Fishing Tips

AS summer kicks into gear, species such as estuary cod, mangrove jack, threadfin salmon, snapper, grass sweetlip, spangled emperor, tuskfish, moses perch, trevally and other pelagics come into play. Most of the reef species can be found around the bay islands, artificial reefs and in the Brisbane River, while pelagics are found in more open waters. The shipping channel, Rous, …

FOR the past 25 years or so of my life, I have been well and truly bitten by the fishing bug and have tried to learn as much as I can about our great sport. This includes subscriptions to magazines such as this one, reading books, watching videos and, with the advent of social media and subscription TV channels, following …

WELL, it’s that time of year again when the jolly old fellow in red will soon be around to see us. Many people have their annual holidays around this time, and this causes the waterways to become extremely busy over the festive season. Festive fish For many, this can be one of the few times their boat sees water during …

THE last third of the year produced memorable fishing around Thursday Island and the tip of Cape York. As the temperature climbs, the fishing fires up and there are more opportunities to push wider as the strong southeast trade wind begins to abate. As it’s been a while since I penned an article, here’s a quick summary of the fishing …

NOVEMBER is a great time to start planning for the next month as we head towards my favourite time of the year – the pelagic run. This year things are set to be quite different, with La Niña being the driver for a better than average pelagic season. Summer warm up For now though, expect to find a few big …

TARPON have to be one of the best species to target on lures. They are aggressive, hit lures hard and put up a great fight, but it’s the visual element to tarpon fishing that make them so exciting. Dragging small lures through deep pockets will entice silver flashes, as tarpon sitting on the bottom with their upwards-looking eyes scan for …

NOVEMBER is the last month of spring and a good time to target mixed species in our local estuaries on the Gold Coast. Flathead are still available before they commence spawning over the summer months, while sand whiting can be caught at night in the Nerang River and over yabby banks during the day. Both these fish will readily rise …

AS I write this article, the so-called Queensland winter species of tailor, winter whiting and bream are still fishing well. These should still be available in October, though the schools will start to thin out. For winter whiting, I find the schools can move around a bit as the months change and the water gets warmer. Brisbane beach bay estuary …

AT the time of writing, tuna have slowly made a start in the bay. Though the catches have been quite patchy and not in substantial numbers, there have been enough all the same. The majority are mack tuna and a few longtail have made their presence felt in mixed schools, with most fish being less than 90cm in length. tuna …

IT has been a while since we posted an article, this having been such a tumultuous year after the pandemic broke out. Stanage Bay closed the doors completely to both our Stanage Bay Marine and Accommodation guests. Thanksfully, we are back open. Bevan and Maree also closed the Crab Pot Bar during that time, so Stanage was very quiet for …